Werder Take Third Spot In Winter-Cup

First Team
Sunday, 20.01.2008 / 12:47

Following a disappointing opening defeat to Dusseldorf in the ‚Winter-Cup‘, Werder went some way to making up for their loss with a 2:1 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the third place play-off.

Following a disappointing opening defeat to Dusseldorf in the ‚Winter-Cup‘, Werder went some way to making up for their loss with a 2:1 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the third place play-off. The Green-Whites went behind in the second minute but had an almost immediate answer from Hugo Almeida (4’). Leverkusen had lost their opener 5:0 to Borussia Dortmund and looked to avoid another such embarrassing performance in what was a much less eventful match than its predecessors. Werder eventually found a way through with Tim Borowski öatching on to a wonderful pass from Jurica Vranjes to make it 2:1 (20’). The rest of the tie remained relatively uneventful and Thomas Schaaf’s men played out the game to take bronze in the mini tournament.

 

Early confusion

 

For the second game, coach Thomas Schaaf started with Max Kruse on the left side of the back four in place of Dusko Tosic. In midfield Jurica Vranjes and Frank Baumann filled the places filled by Aaron Hunt and Torsten Frings against Fortuna Dusseldorf with Hugo Almeida replacing Ivan Klasnic up front. The changes to the Werder eleven had a resounding impact and with just two minutes played. A long ball from the back was nodded on by Sascha Dumm, who beat Naldo in the air, towards Arturo Vidal. The striker came out on top in a one-on-one with Per Mertesacker before rounding Tim Wiese to make it 1:0. Almost directly from the re-start, Werder launched an attack through Tim Borowski, who picked out Hugo Almeida and the Portuguese striker kept his cool to beat keeper Fabian Giefer to level the scores – 1:1 (4’).

 

The first two games in the competition had produced nine goals and with this match getting off to such a bright start, the fans at the LTU-Arena had high hopes of another high scoring clash but there followed little by the way of attempts on goal in the following minutes aside from a Simon Rolfes drive which brought a save from Wiese. The Green-Whites had the better of the play with Bayer’s rare ventures forward ending more often than not in off-side. On 20 minutes, Jurica Vranjes played a stunning pass from the right which eluded three defenders before falling to Tim Borowski who slotted the ball between the keepers legs from close range – 2:1.

 

Martin Harnik looked to be clear through five minutes later but was stopped by a well timed tackle from Sascha Dumm whilst Stefan Kießling tested Wiese at the other end. It was to be the final real chance in a game which saw some hard tackling from Leverkusen but no real threat to the Bremen lead.

 

The Green-Whites proved uninspired but successful in the third place play-off and had the settling knowledge that their opening game defeat was top the eventual tournament winners as Fortuna Dusseldorf beat Borussia Dortmund 1:0 with a late strike by Bekim Kastrati.

 

Dissapointing opener for Schaaf’s men

 

Werder Bremen made a good impression on the local fans as they made it possible for Fortuna Dusseldorf to secure a place in the Winter-Cup final. The 45 minute game finished 3:1 for the home side who took the lead through Axel Lawaree after 18 minutes, albeit from an offside position. Christian Erwig doubled the Fortuna lead on 25 minutes before Tim Borowski put the Bundesliga side back in the tie with a well struck shot (28’). Christian Erwig was on target again before the end to ensure his sides progression to the final.

 

Thomas Schaaf opted to field his strongest eleven for the tournament opener with Torsten Frings returning after a three month lay-off and Aaron Hunt replacing Diego in midfield. The home side made the more determined start and controlled the ball in the centre of the park with Naldo and Per Mertesacker both having to be alert to prevent Fortuna taking an early lead. In the 14th minute the German international was called upon again to clear from Christian Erwig. Four minutes later, the Werder defence was caught short again and this time Lawaree stooped in to make it 1:0 although both the initial pass out wide and the goal-scorer were in offside positions.

 

Too little, too late

 

Trainer Norbert Meier’s side looked stable when tested and dangerous moving forward. On 25 minutes, the Dusseldorf side were two up with Lambertz picking out Lawaree whose shot was parried by Tim Wiese but only as far as Erwig who made it 2:0. Fortuna’s second appeared to shake Bremen into action and three minutes later, Tim Borowski reduced the deficit with a well hit shot from twelve meters. The Green-Whites were now very much in charge but both Ivan Klasnic and again Borowski were unfortunate in their efforts to level the scores.

 

It was all to no avail though for Thomas Schaaf’s men who were to concede a third and decisive goal late on. Cebe pounced on a mistake by Frings and passed to Erwig who clipped the ball over the advancing Tim Wiese to make the final score 3:1 for Fortuna Dusseldorf.

 

John Muldoon

 

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